Kerosene burner for use in refrigerators or in other heat-actuated apparatus



L W L 1 E D 2 O J m .5 A w F \NVENTOE. Georg EH5 jodQH' Sept. 10, 1946.

KEROSENE BURNER FOR USE IN REFRIGERATORS OR IN OTHER HEAT-ACTUATED APPARATUS I 2 Sheets-Sheet l QWA T l p 1 G. E. JODELL' 2,401, 26

KEROSENE BURNER FOR USE IN REFRIGERATORS OR IN OTHER HEAT-ACTUATED APPARATUS Filed Aug. 2, 1944 z-sheets-sneet 2 TLIZIE.

GEORGE Ems JbDEpL.

INVENTOR E; ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 10, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KEROSENEBURNER FOR USE IN REFRIG- ERATORS' OR'IN OTHER HEAT-ACTUATED APPARATUS" Georg Elis Jodell, Prahran, Victoria, Australia, assignor to Electrolux Pty. Limited, Sidney, Australia, an Australian company Application August 2, 1944, SerialNo. 547,'715 In Australia August 18, 1943' 4 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in kerosene burners for use in refrigerators, or in hot water systems or other heat-actuated apparatus using a flue pipe to convey the hot products of combustion to the portion of the apparatus to be heated. In the case of a kerosene burner, the problems that occur'in the heated portion of a refrigerator alsooc'cur' in a hot Water system: or other heat-actuated apparatus using a flue pipe as above-mentioned. lhe termkerosene is used broadly herein to include any oil of similar char-- burner which as a whole. is'more suited than Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of a spring clip forthe cog wheels, looking in the. direction of the arrow 5 in Figure2;

Figure, 6'is a central verticalsection ofaburner. (in position on a tank and. beneath the fluepipe) witha circular ('i. e. tubular). wick; and

Figure '7 is a cross-section on the line l'l:'off

Figurefi (with the; tank omitted);

As hereinb'efore stated the burneris' adapted:

for use in any appliancev which is heated. by: a

keroseneburner and which operates with a flue. V pipe. to convey: the hot products; of combustion to'the. portion ofthe-apparatusto be heated; but, aszt'ne problems which arise in connection with the heatingof refrigerators are the same: as occur inthe heating of other appliances of the type above-mentioned, the invention is described herein primarily in relation to the use of the burnerin a refrigerator,

burner deteriorates 4 Most kerosene-operated refrigerators make use of an ordinary wick type keroseneburner which, inall its essential 'featuresis nothing else; than the old. kerosene lampthat was used extensively forlightingpurposes before homes were generally electrified. In-some country districts this kerosene lamp is still in use.

In orderto' adapt. the ordinary kerosene lamp for the running of a' refrigerator, the burner is fitted on to a metal tank (frequently termed the font) which carries a comparatively largequamtity'of kerosene; As arule this is done by attaching to the'lower portion. of the. burner-a; socket pipe which is pushed into a socket in the tank. Further; the: burner is fitted with a short lamp glass which butts u against-a centralising ring fitted on to; the flue pipe of the boiler of the refrigerator unit. This flue. pipe. consists of a central tube'for heating the boilerrwith an outlet:

The; kerosene lamp commonly used for refrigeration has quite a number of weak points which have. beenbrought about by thefact that the lamp was designed for the. purposeof being used as a lighting lamp and not for. the purpose of conveying, heat only toa refrigerator; Whilst the construction may-be quite. suitable for lighting purposes where the lamp. is: properly cooled by the surrounding. air. and. where it. obtains. itsnatural draught through the burner'gallery and the glass chimneyfitted to the burner, it has. been proved that when: applied to a refrigerator the burner is: subjected. to. considerably" more; heat; which is conveyed from: the hot boiler of the refrigerator through. the short lamp-glass and onto-the: burner: It has'also' beeniproved thatfor one and. the same size of wick therkerosene consumption; isvery. much greater Whenthe burner is usedwith a flue thanif the burner isoperate'd for' lighting. purposes. This: increased. kerosene consumption naturally means that much more heat is produced per hour, by the burner when used on a' refrigerator, hot water system or the like; thanwhen used without a flue as a lamp for lighting. This increased. amount of heat tends to increase further the temperature of the burner, whichis an undesirable feature. It has also been dificult to" obtain a good seal between the lamp-- glass and the centralising ring of the boiler flue and unless this seal isgood the efficiency of'the The'constructionpofthe kerosene'rburne'r as used up to the :present' is not strong andlrobust enough for the purposes it has to fulfill ina refrigerator. as the wholela-mp ismade out of light sheet metal pressings, soldered together. The wick-raising mechanism is built into this soldered construction, so that if anything goes wrong with this wick-raising mechanism the Whole burner is useless unless it is returned to the factory where the soldered joints are unsoldered, the gear box repaired and put back into place, and the burner resoldered.

The fact that the burner of the type in use is a soldered product is its weakest point, It has proved on many occasions that if a burner is allowed to operate in a dirty condition with kerosene spilled on the burner, this kerosene evaporates and mixes with air surrounding the burner and an ignition of these fumes on the surface of the burner may take place by means of a flash back through the gallery. When this occurs the surface of the burner is for a short while en-v veloped in flames. This fire only lasts until the kerosene and dirt on the burner are consumed but with a soldered burner it has been proved that frequently the solder melts. Once a soldered joint melts there is a great risk that fumes will escape from the tank through the faulty joint. These fumes will be ignited by the flame and may feed the fire indefinitely and under some conditions a flash-back to the tank can take place which may result in an explosion of the tank.

Another disadvantage with the kerosene burner normally used is that too much heat is carried from the flame by the burner itself through the burner proper into the tank. Also a considerable amount of heat is conducted back from the fine pipe by the lamp-glass and the burner proper into the tank. As hereinbefore explained the increase in temperature of the kerosene in the tank that takes place due to these circumstances is much greater for a lamp used on a refrigerator, hot water ssytem, or the like than is the case if the lamp is used for lighting purposes only.

If the temperature of the kerosene in the tank has reached the flash-point, and if by admixture of the resultant kerosene fumes with air, owing to the necessary ventilation of the tank, an explosive mixture has accumulated in the tank underneath the burner, then a flash-back from the flame at the top of the wick down into the tank can take place if the wick does not fit closely and evenly in the burner. Explosion test carried out have proved that it is quite possible for a flash-back to take place past the wick into the tank, particularly if by carelessness a wick has been used in the burner that is either too thin or not wide enough. The same thing may happen if the vital wick-guiding parts of the burner have been dented or distorted so that air gaps alongside the wick have resulted. With the normally used construction of kerosene burner (that is a burner made of thin sheet metal) the wick guide in particular is easily distorted and there is no doubt that several explosions have occurred due to this fact.

The rick of an explosion taking place through ignition past the Wick is increased if the kerosene fumes that have accumulated in the tank are being compressed and pushed past the wick. Such a condition exists when the tank is being moved, as for instance when it is withdrawn for refilling or inserted after refilling. The movement of the kerosene in the tank causes a surging which presses kerosene fumes out past the wick at one moment and sucks air in past the wick at another moment depending on the movement of the kerosene level in the tank. The commonly used burner has in itself no prote 3 51011 sion-proof.

against this surging action, and for this reason a ventilation pip has sometimes been used on the side of the burner which releases the fumes into the free air. It ha proved to be necessary to cover the free opening of this ventilation pipe with a wire gauze as otherwise a flash-back from the flame through the gallery and through the ventilation pipe into the interior of the burner and the tank can take place. The disadvantage with such a ventilation pipe, however, is that by careless use of the burner the safety gauze referred to above may be damaged and then there exists no protection against a flash-back. There is moreover another great disadvantage with having such a side ventilation pipe even if properly covered with a gauze and that is that if the burner catches fire as previously referred to, the fire on the surface of the burner will be fed by fumes escaping through this side vent pipe and when the spilled kerosene and/or dust on the burner is consumed a fire still remains on top of the gauze in this ventilation pipe and creates so much heat that solder joints in the burner will melt.

With the standard kerosene burner, even if the side vent pipe is not intentionally provided a certain leakage generally takes place at the point where the wick-raising spindle extends through the burner. As the standard burner is a sheet metal product, this spindle is usually inserted in a light metal tube soldered onto the burner proper but it is difiicult to obtain a neat fit of the spindle into this sheet metal tube and fumes usually escape at this point, particularly if the burner has caught fire as explained previously.

According to the construction shown Figures 1-5:

An upper metal portion, which may be cast or machined, but which preferably is die-cast in two parts I and IE, is attached to a lower moulded section 2 of synthetic plastic material by a single screw 3. Both the cast metal upper portion and the lower moulded plastic portion may be machined after their formation. The low conductivity of this lower portion of the burner more than compensates for the increased heat conductivity that is due to the greater thickness of metal of the upper portion of the burner as compared with standard constructions.

The lower portion of the burner is built so that it constitutes an extension of the wick guide (that is, of the upper portion of the burner) and is so constructed that it embodies an arcuate passageway 4 of considerabl length in comparison with the thickness of the wick and of such dimensions that the wick fills this opening completely or nearly completely.

The wick is thus fed through the long arcuate passageway 4, which it fits fairly closely, and thence into a passageway 5 which becomes annular at the top. The close fit of the wick in the long passageway 4 has two advantages. The first and most important is that it prevents a flash-back past the wick into the tank. Even if a flash-back takes place from the lighted wick into the upper portion of the burner this flashback cannot pass the wick in the long passageway in the lower portion of the burner and consequently this feature makes the burner explo- The second advantage of this feature is that it overcomes the efiects of surging, because as the wick fits reasonably tightly into this passageway it serves as a barrier against the flow of fumes or air through this passageway.

The wick-raising mechanism comprises a pair 5. oficog wheels 6; the driving wheel of which is slid' onto the squared or other non-circular end of a spindle'l. The other cogwheel rotates on a fixed" spindle 8. Theends of these spindles which protrude'beyond' the gear wheels are recessed annularly toform necks E! which are adapted to be engaged by a spring clip iii having'two apertures ii' and E2, the former of which can be passed overth'eend of onespindle, after which the clip isdrawn longitudinally to engage the recess-in the spindle, and the latter of which is of'thesame dimensions as the neck of the other spindle but can be enlarged by forcing the arms of theclip open to-enabl'e thecliptc-be passed over the end of the spindle. The spindles fitneatly in long cylindrical cavities formed in the metal upper portion'ofthebodya The spindle l is-rotatable in its cavity; If it is desired to repair through a substantial portion of the metalinthemainbody itself, the fit between the spindle and the body can be'made almost aplunger fit which will'safs-guard against leakage of'fumes at this point.

The inside air'supply. is controlled by; means of a skirting M 1 permanently or removably attached to the upper portion of the burner body, said; skirting fitting tightly all round the top of the burner body but being wider than the burner body at its lower portion. The inner skirting M has an arcuate portion IEA and lugs IS on which rests an arcuate portion A of an outer skirting 16 which is extended upwardly at H513 to form a support for the lamp glass IT. The inner supply of air thus passes between the inner skirting and the adjacent portion EA of theouter wall of the body of the burner, and so through a lateral opening l8 and up through a central passageway l9 to-the space within the top of the wick. The outer supply of air passes between the inner and outer skirtings and up between the lamp glass and the outer edge of the top of the burner. The arcuate form of the portion ISA of the outer skirting enables the outer skirting with its lamp glass to swivel slightly and thus automatically to find its correct position in the centralising ring A attached to the flue pipe 20. Also the dimensions of the skirtings and the lugs, as hereinbefore mentioned, are such that the size of the air port between the two skirtings is not altered by the swivelling movement of the outer skirting. Bleeder holes 2| of small size (as, for example, three holes each 0.8 mm. diameter, two of which are shown in Figure 1) may be provided so that if for any reason over-pressure be built up in the tank, the fumes will escape through these bleeder holes. The fumes will then be carried by the air stream through the centre of the burner up to the flame. They will normally be so diluted by the air passing through the centre of the burner body that they will be safe from ignition but should an ignition take place, a flash-back into the tank is impossible because of the small size of the bleeder holes and if the fumes are ignited the resultant 6 small" flameswill burn'temporarily but they w-ill not harm the metal of thedie-cast or machined part i; The gauze-covered ventilationopenings usedinstandard burners; where the safety gauze coveringw-as-liable' tobe broken away; are obviate'd inthe present construction.

The invention applies mainly to the-type of wick burner: using a fiat wick which, during its passage-through the burner, is gradually curved by the shape of 'thepassageway-until at andadjacent toit burning end its edges have met and it; thus has assumed acircular shape but the inventionis not restricted to this type of wick burn-er only. It also appliesto the type of wick burner that: uses a tubular wick which is completely closed' in cross-section. The construction shown inFig-uresfi and? i adapted for use with this-latter type of wick. As thewick 35 is a tubular structure theinner air supply must pass up centrally, a central air passage 22 being providedj for thatpurpose; for-med by theparts 23, 2s and 25-hereunder mentioned and'thus extends up through the tank 32 and through the burner. The upper inner portion23 of the bodyof the burner may be permanently attached to the lower inner portion 24 byforcing the end of one onto the-other. The

lower inner portion 24 is fitted onto the wall 25 of the tank which forms the'lower portion of the airpassage 22. Theupperouter portion 26 fits into a socket 21' on the'lower outer portion 28" and isconnected' thereto by a screw- 29.1 The parts 24 and 28 aremade ofplastic, and the parts 23 and 26 are formed of die-cast'metal.

The-lower outerportion-fi-S' of the body is recessed at tt 'to receive and rest upon a flange 3| on the tank: 325 As the wick is tubular a single cog wheel--53 can be used for raising the wick. This cog wheel may be remcvably attached (by a spring clip or other means, not shown) to a spindle 3d passing through a long cylindrical cavity in the upper outer portion of the body. No inner skirting is required with the construction shown in Figures 6 and 7 because the inner air feed is through the bottom of the tank. Lugs 36 on a substantially arcuate part 38 of the portion 25 of the body engage a substantially arcuate portion 31 of the skirting and thus ensure uniformity of dimensions of the outer air port similarly to the construction (shown in Figures 1-5) Where the inner air supply passes in through a side port and where a flat wick is fed through a passageway which is annula at the top.

No feature of the present burner will prevent it from being interchangeable with standard burners of the same capacity used in refrigerators, hot water systems and like apparatus, and its heat input is at least as good as that of standard burners. It is constructed as a plain engineering product without any fancy ornamentations and is strongly built of heavier metal than previously and without soldered joints and its vital parts should withstand rough handling without being dented or otherwise distorted.

Not only is the burner more rugged and more readily assembled than standard burners of the same size but it ensures a correct supply of air to the inner edge of the wick and also to the outer edge of the wick and is more reliable than standard burners of the same size.

When the burner is inserted in the refrigerator or other apparatus the top of the lamp glass is self-aligning and seeks its correct position in relation to the flue pipe. This does not interfere This air passage is with the air ports which feed the outer and inner air supplies to the flame.

Another advantage of this burner is that it is more draught-proo|f than standard burners.

This invention also obviates interference with the air supply and the throwing of the inner and outer air supplies out of balance, which occurs with standard types of burner owing to obstruction of the small holes in the outside and inside galleries by dust, flufi or the like.

A further very important advantage of the invention is that the outside and inside skirtings can be lifted away from the burner which enables the user always to keep his burner clean. As the lamp glass is attached to the outside skirting, it is removable therewith. This obviates the trouble of removing the lamp glass from its support as, was necessary in prior standard constructions and which led to numerous breakages of the lamp glasses. have no perforations also facilitates greatly the cleaning of the burner. The construction of the skirtings is such that when crust from the wick or soot from the chimney falls into the burner it does not accumulate in the burner itself as is the case with normal existing burners, but usually ifalls straight out through the air ports. With this new construction the risk of a burner catching fire due to a dirty condition and spilled kerosene will be greatly reduced, and if it does catch fire this fire will be shorter lived and, due to the construction in general of the burner, will be unlikely to cause harm.

I claim:

1. In a wick type kerosene burner, the combination with a kerosene tank of a composite body for guiding the wick from the interior of the tank upwardly to a level considerably above the top The fact that the skirtings of the tank, said wick guiding body including a. lower portion consisting of a plastic of low heat conductivity and extending from the interior of the tank to a level a short distance above the top of the tank, and an upper thick-walled cast metal portion seated on said lower portion.

2. A wick type kerosene burner, as claimed in claim 1, in which said lower portion of said wick guiding body is formed with a wick guilding passageway which is of considerable length in comparison with the thickness of the wick and so dimensioned that it is substantially completely filled by the wick, and said upper portion is formed with a wick guilding passageway forming an extension of said wick guilding passageway in said lower portion.

3. A wick type kerosene burner, as claimed in claim 1, in which said upper portion is provided with a cavity to receive at least one wick raising cog wheel and with at least one bore of substantial length passin from said cavity through the material forming a thick wall of said upper portion to the outside to accommodate the spindle of said wick raising cog wheel with a neat fit.

4. A wick type kerosene burner, as claimed in claim 1, in which said lower portion and the lower part of said upper portion are provided with registering wick guiding passageways of an arcuate cross-section corresponding to between about 300 and 320 of a circle and merging in the upper part of the upper portion into a wick guiding passageway of completely circular cross-section, the upper part of said upper portion being further provided with an axial air duct and the lower part of said upper portion being provided with a radial air duct communicating at its inner end with the lower end of said axial air duct. GEORG ELIS J ODELL. 

